Aftermath
by Terrandefender
Summary: A short story I wrote in year 9, which tells of several important events which take place after Vincent's departure...


**_Ok, this is a creative thingy I wrote back in year 9 for a certain assessment task after watching Gattaca. It is not perfect(even though my English teacher enjoyed it), and although I have made small changes and fixed many small mistakes I guarantee you there are still flaws. Reviews are welcome..._**

**_Aftermath_**

**Police report, 28th of November**  
This morning at 0800 hours, several officers find evidence at the house of Jerome Eugene Morrow(see attached file for profile) that a man has been killed within the incinerator. According to the fire department, the incinerator had not shut off for a prolonged period of time, thus triggering the fire alarm. Eugene is currently on a manned flight to Titan, and cannot be contacted at this point. At the present time, suicide is the only explanation, as the house security system has been shut down since Eugene's departure, although it is strangely odd as to why somebody would stage their suicide at another person's home. Further investigation pending.  
*****************************

I looked cautiously at the man sitting next to me, as if expecting him to pull out a knife. Of course, he won't actually do that. We have, after all, being friends for quite a while. By quite a while, I mean since the far off childhood days, those days that tend to spark up countless embarrassing memories. Yes, those days. Of course, there is a small difference between friend and good friend. I've known him since the final days of primary school, up till now, where we work as detectives, tackling various cases together. A month or so ago, there was this murder at Gattaca. After the two of us homed in on some in-valid who was the primary suspect, Anton told me that this was a personal matter, and told me to just let him handle it alone. We eventually claimed credit for the case through sheer luck, a sort of long story. Of course, after the case there were big arguments between us, about how we should listen more to each other than our instincts, that sort of crap. That argument may as well have undone 20 years of friendly relations between Anton and I. Now? Now Anton wants to investigate this incident at the house of some astronaut flying to the other end of the solar system. Something to do with an incinerator, even as I protested that we should take a break. Seriously, Anton has been in a furious state since his last case at Gattaca. I wonder what happened?

***********************  
**Gattaca**  
**Solar observation post**  
URGENT REPORT  
Time:0605 hours, 30th November  
A gigantic solar flare occurred this morning.  
Functional GOES have observed it to be a class B solar flare(see more here)  
2056 probes in need of urgent repair  
Communication with ISS ceased for repair work  
Recommend cancelling of upcoming Moon flight due to lack of functional deep space communication  
Communications with Titan mission interrupted

There wasn't much of a 'case' with the incinerator. The man who (presumably) committed suicide cannot be identified, as he is just a pile of ashes now. A small glob of recently melted silver has been found, but it's as useless as a fart in an elevator. That did not improve Anton's mood. I thought about asking him what happened, but, obviously, he would have none of my questions. Perhaps I should investigate that in-valid myself...

*************************  
Vincent Freeman... That was his name. A godchild(interesting), worked briefly at Gattaca as a... janitor? Fell of the grid shortly after. No further records. Strange. This invalid was basically a ghost. I might interview some people who previously knew him. Not sure if Anton would approve, but anyway...

**********************  
_It was a massive solar flare. Truly one of the largest ever seen, definitely the largest in the decade, perhaps even the century. For the next 2 weeks, people at Gattaca would be driven to the point of insanity trying to restore order to not only their crippled communication and satellite system, but also the world's communication and electronic connectivity. This was no time to be worrying about some distant spaceship flying to a moon hundreds of million kilometres away._

15th December  
I figures that this 'Vincent' must of been good friends with Jerome. Not only were there hundreds of visits Vincent payed to Jerome, but there were also thousands of phone calls between them. Naturally, as a godchild, Vincent must've admired a successful person like Jerome. Perhaps Vincent wanted to be like him...

Maybe that man who died in the incinerator was Vincent. Perhaps he killed himself in grief after knowing he might not be able to see Jerome again, as his expected lifetime was only 30 years, Jerome was on a half-decade mission, and Vincent's 'expiry date' was already long overdue.

**_Classified_**  
**_For the eyes of the director of Gattaca only  
15th of December_**  
Communications with the Titan mission was re-established this morning at 6a.m EST for a brief 5 minutes.  
It is with the greatest regret that I inform you that our dear comrade and friend Jerome Eugene Morrow has likely perished. Information is sketchy at the present time, but we do know that the solar flare has damaged a number of electronics aboard the ship. Jerome had recommended repairs and immediate return to Earth. During outside repair work, an incident occurred, causing Jerome to be propelled uncontrolled away from the ship at 4km/second.  
As the ship was in the asteroid belt, it is possible, though unlikely that Jerome's drift was stopped by an asteroid/debris, provided that he survives the impact. Rescue attempts are already underway, the president has been fully supportive in our attempts, promising any resource his department can spare. However, given that it will take at least 2 weeks for our rescue crew to reach the belt, we must prepare for the worst. The crew of the Titan mission, who managed to start the ship an hour later, are currently using spare propellant in looking for Jerome.  
For now, to prevent panic and grief after 2 weeks of chaos, I recommend we keep this affair a secret. I am also concerned that several detectives looking into Jerome's profile may discover this tragedy. I suggest contacting the police again to pull the detectives away from whatever their case maybe before this secret is leaked.  
**_End message  
Press ENTER to erase document_**

22nd December  
With each passing day, I find more totally unrelated information on this 'Vincent' guy. With each passing day, Anton becomes more withdrawn, yet calmer for some reason(gee, when did I last talk to him?). Finally, with each passing day, the police department become more pissed at our refusal to back down from the case. They have been convinced that a suicide had occurred. So was I, two weeks ago. Unfortunately, it seems the police has been in touch with Gattaca today, because the department threatened us to abandon the case in a manner they have never used against anybody. Perhaps today's visit to Jerome's house will be my last. I looked again and again at the pile of ashes in the incinerator, like a gambler unwilling to admit that he lost a life altering gamble. I was so...lost in thoughts I didn't notice Anton and two other people arrive. Unlike the past two weeks, Anton was smiling for once. He energetically introduced me to the two other individuals, both of whom worked at Gattaca, a man called Dr. Lamar and a lady called Irene.  
They patiently took turns in telling their sides of the story.

New Year Day  
Today, I am officially retiring as a detective, the job I was born for. Vincent had died a hero, and his sacrifices, including the one that brought his end, had allowed the rest of the Titan mission to live, to fulfil their dream another day. His story was revealed to Gattaca and the world a week after I learnt the truth about Vincent. He had eventually given up his own dream for the sake of others. The act had managed to help Anton work his way past his grief, and as far as I can tell he is at some home for disabled people, telling the story of his brother. Dr. Lamar has also retired from Gattaca, and now devotes all his time in ensuring his 'defective' son can achieve his dreams, which Lamar believed was possible after witnessing the actions of Vincent. Irene continues to work in her current position with high hopes for being part of something special. As for me... Well... I might try to be an engineer. Sure, I wasn't born for the job, but heck, Vincent wasn't born for anything.

As long as I believed it was possible...


End file.
